IF THOU art looking for an entertainment that dramatises the damaging physical and psychological effects of political ambition on those who seek power for its own sake - Staveley Roundhouse is the place to be.

Yes, it's Macbeth where thunder and lightning abound as three witches toil and trouble and conclude the opening eerie scene with "Fair is foul, and foul is fair: hover through the fog and filthy air."

Like many other Shakespeare treasures Macbeth is peppered with pearls of wisdom and noted expressions as 'There's daggers in men's smiles' and 'What's done is done.'

For the Roundhouse show, which runs from Thursday, May 12 until Tuesday, May 17 (7.30pm, no Sunday performance), director Fliss Pocock has put a cast together that stars some of Lakeland finest thespians - Kate Vernon, Kate Walford, Bob Christie, Kevin Beecroft, Jacqui Wallace, Chris Whiteside, , Kathryn Nicholson and Abbi Lawson.

In the spotlight as Macbeth is Denis Bland with Alison Hine as Lady Macbeth.

Fliss says that everyone was quite apprehensive when she first suggested marking Shakespeare's 400th anniversary by staging the Scottish play: "But I knew they would rise to the challenge and they have proved me right.

"Rehearsals have been great fun with lots of jokes about 'putting on manly readiness' flying about - especially as several of the thanes are played by females."

The Roundhouse production is mostly faithful to Shakespeare's original although due to a smaller cast than the Bard prescribed, Fliss has made some cuts: "I also wanted to cut out a lot of the politics of the day surrounding the war, which can seem a bit dry. I don’t think these cuts detract from the play but make it more accessible and keep it moving along and action packed.

"One of the my biggest challenges was that there is quite a lot of sword fight action in there which needs to be believable and which I know nothing about. I've been lucky enough to find an expert from the film industry to come and give us all a lesson."

Book online at www.staveleyroundhouse.com or telephone 015395-61076.